WASHINGTON — Russia has long tried to inject disinformation into American political discourse. Now it has a new angle: paying Americans to do the work.
This week Indictment of two Russian state media workers on charges that they paid a Tennessee company to create pro-Russian content has revived concerns about foreign interference in the November election, while the Kremlin’s latest tactic is increasingly being used information warfare.
If the allegations are true, analysts say they represent a significant escalation and are likely just a small part of a larger Russian effort to influence the election.
“We’ve seen the smoke for years. Now here’s the fire,” said Jim Ludes, a former national defense analyst who now directs the Pell Center for International Relations at Salve Regina University. “I don’t wonder if they’ll do this again. I don’t doubt it.”
Prosecutors say the two employees of RT, a Russian media outlet formerly known as Russia Today, funneled $10 million to the U.S. media company, which then paid several popular right-wing influencers for their content — in one case $400,000 a month. Two of those influencers said they no idea their work was supported by Russia.
Intelligence agencies and private analysts say Russia’s disinformation campaigns are aimed at shutting down Russian intelligence services. US aid to Ukrainepaving the way for a swift Russian victory after more than two years of bitter conflict.
In the presidential race, Russia is backing Donald Trump because he is seen as the candidate least favorable toward Ukraine, intelligence officials say. Trump has openly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly proposed cutting off funding to Ukraine. criticized the NATO military alliance. On Thursday, Putin claimed ironically He hoped Vice President Kamala Harris would win.
Officials say a second goal of Russian disinformation is to increase political polarization and distrust, thereby undermining American confidence in democracy.
This summer, intelligence agencies warned that Russia took advantage of unwitting Americans to spread its propaganda by adapting it to existing societal debates within the U.S. Rather than creating new conflicts, Russia has found success by identifying and exaggerating existing divisions, and adapting disinformation accordingly. If Russia is successful, it could entice Americans to spread its talking points for free, without them even knowing who their source is.
When a derailed train in Ohio caused massive environmental damage last year, Russian voices tried to steer the debate with anti-government messages that were quickly reposted by American users. Some American websites picked up the Russian propaganda and reposted it without attribution.
Earlier this year, Russian state media and fake account networks began amplify claims about immigration on platforms used by Americans.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Russian state media claimed without evidence that the virus was the product of U.S. bioweapons experiments and that the U.S. had biological laboratories in Ukraine. English-language posts soon began appearing on U.S. social media sites.
Four years later, the conspiracy theory still resonates on far-right forums.
“What if Covid was created in a Ukrainian biolab, and the war is to keep it a secret?” wrote one poster last week on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
The company that hired RT was identified as Tenet Media by two of the right-wing content creators it paid — Tim Pool and Benny Johnson. Both men said on social media Wednesday that they had no knowledge of Tenet’s relationship with RT and that if the allegations are true, they are victims.
Pool wrote in his podcast that no one had told him what to say and condemned Russia: “Putin is a scoundrel.”
However, Pool has a long history of pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian positions and of conspiracy theories about Democrats and American democracy.
In a podcast, he said that “criminal elements” within the US government were leading the war against Russia and that Ukraine was the real enemy.
“Ukraine is our enemy, funded by the Democrats,” Pool said. “Ukraine is the greatest threat to this country and to the world. We need to stop all funding and financing, stop all military support, and we need to apologize to Russia.”
Trump said on Truth Social that the case amounted to “election interference” by federal prosecutors, who he said were “rekindling the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax and trying to say Russia is trying to help me, which is absolutely false,” with the last word in all caps.
Trump’s comments referenced concerns about Russian interference in the 2016 election, when groups tied to the Kremlin social media networks And paid ads on facebook and other platforms to support Trump. Russia too tried to help Trump in the 2020 elections.
China and Iran have mounted their own campaigns to use social media to influence American positions. Iran has covertly supported protests over the war in Gaza and was recently accused of try to hack in the campaign systems of Trump and Harris, his Democratic opponent.
However, intelligence services say Russia remains the biggest threat.
During a briefing with reporters last month, an official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said Russia was increasingly trying to cover its tracks by “outsourcing its efforts to commercial companies to hide its hand, and by laundering stories through influential American voices.” The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Russian officials have repeatedly boasted about their ability to shape American positions, despite the efforts of the U.S. government. RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, who has been sanctioned for her ties to the Russian government, detailed how Moscow tries to hide its fingerprints from U.S. intelligence.
“We create a lot of sources of information that are not tied to us,” Simonyan said recently on a Russian talk show. “While the CIA is trying to figure out that they are tied to us, they already have a huge audience. So we chase each other. It’s actually fun.”
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Associated Press editor Alan Suderman contributed to this report from Richmond, Virginia.
